atan and Mexico, which have
so puzzled archaeologists.

Of Kukulcan, the culture-hero of the Mayas, it is recounted that he had
been one of four brothers who originally ruled at Chichen-Itza, over four
tribes. "These brothers chose no wives but lived chastely and ruled
righteously, until, at a certain time, one died or departed and two began
to act unjustly and were put to death. The one remaining was Kukulcan. He
appeased the strife which his brothers' acts had aroused, directed the
minds of the people to the arts of peace and caused to be built various
edifices. After he had completed his work at Chichen-Itza he founded the
great city of Mayapan, destined to be the capital of the confederacy of
the Mayas." (See Brinton, Hero-myths, p. 162.) Friar Diego de Landa
relates that the current opinion amongst the Indians of Yucatan was that
this ruler had gone to Mexico where, after his return (departure?) he was
named Cezalcouatl and revered as one of their gods (Relacion, ed. Brasseur
de Bourbourg, p. 36). Before analyzing the Nahuatl rendering of Kukulcan's
name I would point out the noteworthy coincidence that, during his reign
at Chichen-Itza and Mayapan, he practically united in his person and
assumed the offices formerly fulfilled by four rulers, of which he had
been only one.

I would, moreover, draw attention to the remarkable, sculptured columns
which support the main portal of the main pyramid-temple called El
Castillo at Chichen-Itza. These represent gigantic feathered serpents and
are figured on pl. XIV of Mr. Wm. Holmes' most instructive and useful
"Archaeological Studies," Part I, "Monuments of Yucatan." The feathers
carved on the massive columns are evidently the precious tail feathers of
the quetzal, which have the peculiarity of exhibiting, according to the
way the light falls upon them, blue, red, yellow and green
colors--precisely those assigned to the four quarters by the Mexicans and
for all we know to the contrary, by the Mayas. Whether this feather was
chosen for this peculiarity or for its beauty only, as that with which to
deck the effigy of the divinity, can, of course, only be conjectured. In
Mexico numberless effigies of feathered serpents exist. The resemblance of
the sound of the Nahuatl words: feather=ihuitl, and heaven or
sky=ilhui-catl, should be recorded here as a possible reason for the
association of feathers with the serpent and as a means of conveying the
idea of its divinity. It should